Longnose hawkfish no longer eating

FunWithFishes · Aug 29, 2017

Hey everyone. About a month and a half ago I added a longnose hawkfish to my aquarium. Right out of the gate he seemed super healthy to me, he ate alongside my clownfish the day I put him in and seemed to like mysis shrimp. Fast forward to about a week ago, when I noticed he was no longer eating, and was always perched low, either underneath live rocks or on the substrate. This was odd because he usually perched on top of my power heads or on the top of my flat live rock. I have tried spot feeding him, making sure he can see and get to the food with either the goby or clownfish interfering, but he just sits there as it floats past. His stomach is now looking pinched and I don't know what else I can do.

I checked my water parameters.
0pp Ammonia and Nitrites
5ppm Nitrates
1.025 Gravity
80F temp

Does anyone have any ideas on what else I can do?

Maritimer · Aug 29, 2017

Have you noted any other symptoms?

Increased breathing rate? Stringy, white poop (when he was eating...)? Symptoms can be physical (like the white spots of ich, or the red marks of Uronema) or behavioral (like the increased respiration that often accompanies flukes / ich / velvet). Not eating is a symptom of . . . almost everything, sadly.

@melypr1985 or @Humblefish might be able to see things in your description that I can't, or offer insights I haven't got . . .

~Bruce

FunWithFishes · Aug 29, 2017

I moved him to quarantine so I could observe any symptoms I might miss in the main tank (like poop) as for other symptoms. Theres no spots or powder like coating like I've seen when people post ich. I also haven't noticed increased respiration. He does have a twitch occasionally. When he goes to move forward or back it can be a bit erratic. Not like he's rubbing himself on anything, but like he has a spasm.

FunWithFishes · Aug 29, 2017

I've also noticed a dark reddish brown spot on his head above his eye.

FunWithFishes · Aug 29, 2017

Also, having just seen him poop, it appears to be white, bit not super stringy, more of a clump.

4FordFamily · Aug 29, 2017

Hard to decipher much, it's possible that spot is an infection-- white poop could possibly be an internal parasite, but typically it needs to be white AND stringy. Hawkfish usually feed quite voraciously.

What other tankmates do you have?

FunWithFishes · Aug 29, 2017

An ocellaris clownfish, a diamond watchman goby, and a scarlet leg hermit crab.

FunWithFishes · Aug 29, 2017

In a 55gallon

melypr1985 · Aug 29, 2017

I lean towards an intestinal worm. The problem being that if he doesn't eat, then getting the meds to his gut can be problematic. I would start with dosing metroplex in the water column of the QT and hope that enough of the water he drinks brings meds to his tummy. The goal is to get him eating again and dose the metroplex in the food.

Humblefish · Aug 29, 2017

The twitching could be from flukes. I would perform a 5 min FW to check for this: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/freshwater-dip.248898/

FunWithFishes · Aug 30, 2017

I gave him a FW dip this morning before work. He is still quick when he wants to be (like when running from the net).

I kept him in for 5 minutes but didn't notice any flukes coming out.

So after work I'll run to the store and try to find some metroplex for him. A quick question though, would the carbon filter I use for the QT filter it out? If so, I'll grab another filter as well.

Maritimer · Aug 30, 2017

Carbon and meds aren't likely to be a good combination . . .

I run sponge-only or sponge / ceramic rings on my filters in QT. No carbon unless I wanted to pull something out of the water.

~Bruce

FunWithFishes · Aug 30, 2017

Alrighty, thanks for the info. I'll make sure I take the carbon filter out.

Humblefish · Aug 30, 2017

I would also pick up a wide spectrum antibiotic just in case the spot above his eye turns into an infection: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/antibiotics.283711/

FunWithFishes · Sep 1, 2017

An Update: So after getting Metroplex and Focus, I added it to some mysis shrimp last night and fed him. He went after a piece of it, but then seemed uninterested. This morning, I tried again and he ended up eating a few pieces before not caring. I don't want to be overly optimistic, but him going after anything seems like a huge step up to me and I am hoping he will pull through.

FunWithFishes · Sep 2, 2017

Update 2: He ate again this morning, only a few pieces, but still something. I notice when he eats, he doesn't seem to have much coordination. He kind of flails at the food, rather than his old pinpoint precision. He'll also only eat food laying next to him, rather than picking it out of the water column. Are these other signs of an intestinal parasite, or something else?

Humblefish · Sep 2, 2017

FunWithFishes said:
Update 2: He ate again this morning, only a few pieces, but still something. I notice when he eats, he doesn't seem to have much coordination. He kind of flails at the food, rather than his old pinpoint precision. He'll also only eat food laying next to him, rather than picking it out of the water column. Are these other signs of an intestinal parasite, or something else?

That behavior could be due to blindness or impaired vision.

lolmatt · Feb 21, 2018

Sorry to bump an oldish thread.

@FunWithFishes Did you ever figure this out? I added a longnose to my display ~1.5wks ago after a 2 week QT...he was only treated with metro-soaked food in QT, the other fish in QT with him (a valentini puffer) had some stringy poop. The puffer died of unknown cause in the display within a week of moving him, hawkfish remained great. Suddenly the hawkfish has stopped eating as well. Looks 100% fine, gets VERY excited when I feed the tank, just won't take any food.

I'm planning to FW dip if I can catch the bugger. I guess 2wk QT is not long enough.

FunWithFishes · Feb 21, 2018

lolmatt said:
Sorry to bump an oldish thread.

@FunWithFishes Did you ever figure this out? I added a longnose to my display ~1.5wks ago after a 2 week QT...he was only treated with metro-soaked food in QT, the other fish in QT with him (a valentini puffer) had some stringy poop. The puffer died of unknown cause in the display within a week of moving him, hawkfish remained great. Suddenly the hawkfish has stopped eating as well. Looks 100% fine, gets VERY excited when I feed the tank, just won't take any food.

I'm planning to FW dip if I can catch the bugger. I guess 2wk QT is not long enough.

Sorry to hear your going through what I went through. In my case I determined it to be flukes. My hawkfish didn't end up making it, but it gets a lot harder once they stop eating.

I QT for 4-5 weeks (I know some people go even longer) and use medicated food, plus a medication I add directly to the water. I can let you know my specifics when I get home.

As for the hawkfish, although I couldn't save mine, I did have a Wrasse go through the same thing, and was able to save it. A FW dip will help kill off a lot of flukes (and let you know if you have them) but WILL NOT get rid of them all. The best method is to FW dip and hopefully that will help the fish feel better enough to eat. If it does end up being flukes, he will have to go back in QT and you will need to use fluke medication, most likely for around a month. Also, keep a very close eye on your other fish, as they could get infected if there are now flukes in your tank.

Regardless, I hope yours pulls through as I think they are amazing fish and I plan to get another soon to complete my stock list. Good luck, let me know how it goes.